


Discovery

by NYS30



Category: Luke Cage (TV)
Genre: Child Abuse, Gen, Luke Cage AU, Mariah as a kick-ass lawyer, Shades' time in juvie, and earning Shades' undying devotion, implications of underage non-con, taking down evil institutions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-08-29 23:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8510506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYS30/pseuds/NYS30
Summary: Mariah really didn't remember Shades, although she had plenty of reason (and occasion) to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> When Priscilla was reading off the stints of time Shades served, Spofford was mentioned. Thanks to @queenmariahd sleuthing skills, she discovered it was an actual place. So this is an AU about Shades's time in juvie, and Mariah sweeping in to get the place shut down.

“What should I do with all of these?” Mariah turns to see Alex gesturing to a tower of neatly stacked boxes labeled: Gentry, Klein, and Starling. The two are in her basement, doing a bit of “Spring Cleaning” at Mariah’s urging. “It’s almost winter.” Alex had grumbled, but followed her down the stairs. That was a week ago, and he was really starting to regret his insistence to help her with anything she needed.

She cocks her head because she had truly forgotten that they were there. “Storage shed downtown, there’s nothing in there I need.” Alex raises an eyebrow, she had said the very same thing two days ago about a box labeled ‘Jazmin’, but apparently had a change of heart. Which wouldn’t’ve been so bad except, the change of heart came at 4 in the morning. On a Sunday.

Mariah laughs, “I’m serious. Those are cases I worked at my very first firm, when I was practicing criminal law.” She turns back to her stack of photo albums and begins to sort through them carefully. He notices the ones with Cornell are placed in the ‘keep in home’ pile, which Alex thinks is odd, considering how he met his end. But that’s a closed subject for Mariah, she barely speaks his name. 

He’s curious to see what exactly was so important that she kept copies in her home. He waits until she’s preoccupied with a stroll down memory lane and opens up one of the boxes. 

“SPOFFORD TO FINALLY CLOSE!” The headline declared. He sees a (very) young Mariah standing triumphantly next to a pair of iron gates that were topped with barbed wire. 

“LOCAL FIRM ACHIEVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION” 

“DECADES OF ABUSE BROUGHT TO LIFE” Under this headline is a group of boys, each standing with a scowl.

“That was the Bridges Juvenile center, aka Spofford.” Alex jumped, not having heard Mariah come up beside him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snoop, I just wanted-“ Alex is aware he’s babbling, and is contemplating just slinking off but Mariah reaches out and pats his arm. “Its fine, I’m actually really proud of that case. It’s what got me out of practicing solely criminal law and into more community oriented projects.”

“What is, or what was Spofford?” Alex knew her accomplishments were many, and were out there to look up online, but he liked hearing her talk about her past. She shared so little of her true self, that when she let her guard down, Alex liked to take that time to dig as subtly as possible. 

“Spofford was a juvenile detention center, supposedly for rehabilitation.” Mariah snorted. “Bullshit is what it was. Guards beating the boys, letting the boys beat on each other, kids raping and being raped.” Mariah took a deep breath and shook her head. “I’m not saying they were all angels, but they were kids, most who didn’t deserve to be taken from a bad situation and put in an even worse one.”

“So how did your firm get involved?” Alex asked.

“I convinced them to take it on as a humanitarian case.” At this Mariah starts to pace. “I had to actually sit in that room and barter for these kids’ lives, and the only way I could sell it was to convince them that they would be heralded as saviors.” 

“How did you know about what was going on?” Alex pressed. 

Mariah stopped, looked over at him, and shrugged “Mama Mabel. She knew everything and everyone. She ran these streets, nothing happened without her knowing. So when a few of the mothers, grandmothers, and hell even a few fathers came to her with concerns, she listened.” She paused, feeling as if she were missing a detail. Alex was on the verge of another question when she heard the door open.

Shades descended the steps, Mariah noticed he had taken heed of Alex suggestion and dressed down instead of his usual (as of late) suits and expensive shoes. Today he looked more like the man who accompanied Cornell so long ago. She also noted that he fills out a simple t-shirt just fine, tattoos barely peeking out. She gives him a brief glance and turns back to Alex, who is trying to hide his smile as he looks back and forth between them. 

Shades rolls his eyes and steps further into the room, coming to a stop near a pile of what looks like old quilts on top of a sewing machine. “What still needs to be done?”  
Alex snorts, “That whole side of the room.” He gestures behind him. “We’re taking a break right now, right?” He sends a quick pleading glance to Mariah. “Mariah’s telling me about her days as a criminal lawyer.” 

Shades pulls up a chair (where he found it, she had no idea) and his smile is open and reverent. “Oh yeah, then I got here just in time. She’s a force.” He says to Alex knowingly.

Mariah raises an eyebrow in his direction thinking how would he know, but continues, “So Mama Mabel calls me and demands that I bring my siddity ass home cause and I quote ‘these white people out here locking up our boys’ I come home and she’s got testimonials from half the damn borough and wants my firm to sue their asses.”

Alex is barely containing his glee. “So you did, right? I mean obviously you did, but was it a big battle? How much money did you get? What happened to the kids, or the guards? Were there any repercussions for them?” With each question, he’s getting more excited, but she notices Shades is withdrawing into himself. 

The feeling that she’s missing something returns full force and she tries to change the subject, “It was a long time ago, you can look it up, I’m sure. I think it’s time to get back to work.” 

“No, Mariah.” She looks at Shades, who’s sitting ramrod straight, eyes trained on the wall. “Tell him, what did happen to the boys on the inside?” 

Mariah has no idea what is going on, but she’s obviously touched on something with him, and tries to de-escalate the situation. “We assigned them lawyers and managed to get most of the convictions overturned on technicalities. And the one’s we didn’t we allowed them to serve their terms at alternate facilities, with constant oversight.”

“And the guards?” Shades focuses on Mariah. By now Alex is hunched down in his seat, willing it to swallow him whole.

“All fired. Some ended up behind bars as well, but none have ever or will ever serve in a public capacity again.” She’s not sure why he’s taking this so personal…. Her eyes widened.  
Of course! He must’ve had people on the inside. Knowing the crowd that Cornell ran with, and the company that Shades himself kept it was inevitable. 

She turns to Alex and dismisses him with a curt, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Alex is up the stairs and out the door before she’s done talking. 

Mariah looks at Shades, who’s returned to staring at the wall. She approaches his tense form and runs her fingers along the back of his neck. It takes a while, but eventually he relaxes enough for her to wrap her arms around him from behind. 

 

All is quiet until she leans her head against his and asks “Who was it?”

Shades cocks his head “Who was what?”

“Who was it that you knew in Spofford? Obviously they were close to you for you to react like-“ He’s up and off the chair and Mariah is getting annoyed with her boys not even waiting for her to finish talking.

Shades is chuckling softly to himself, and now Mariah completely confused. “Hernan, what is it?”

He rounds on her, “You know, when I asked you months ago if you remembered me, I knew you didn’t. I thought it would come back eventually, but I guess not.” He pauses, and takes a deep breath. “Me. I was at Spofford.”

Mariah is struck dumb, “No, no you weren’t. I would’ve remembered.”

He snorts, “Evidently not.” He makes his way to the stairs, then pauses with his back to her “I know you still have records, check the names, Mariah.” With that he’s gone.

She stares after him for a full minute then tears off to the stack of boxes. Uncaring of the mess she’s making, she does not stop until she locates the defendant list and there it is in black and white:  
Name: Hernan Rivas Alvarez  
Parent/Guardian: Magdalena Rivas Alvarez  
Age: 14  
Charge: Grand Theft  
Larceny  
His name is underlined and there is a handwritten note from Mama Mabel *He’s one of mine and we take care of our own. Make sure he’s taken care of Mimi.*

 

Mariah looks up from the paper and feels choked up, 14 is just a baby. She leaves the basement and goes to make herself a double bourbon. She’ll go back down in a bit to find more information, but for now she lets herself think back to when the phone call from Mama Mabel came.


	2. The Set Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mariah gets blind-sided

“I need you to come back home, baby girl” 

The call comes on a quiet Sunday morning, as Mariah is attempting to tackle the crossword puzzle. She makes a mental note to have one of those new caller ID things installed. 

“I’ve got some vacation time I can take next month-“ 

“No, not then. Right now” Mama Mabel cuts her off impatiently. Mariah sighs and put down the puzzle. “What are you talking about, do you need a lawyer? Are you in trouble?” She pauses, her voice dropping an octave. “Is it Cornell?”

“No, your cousin isn’t in trouble, but” Mabel sighs. “A lot of the neighborhood is suffering, and we need to come together to see what can be done.”

“I can’t just leave! I’m still only a junior lawyer. I’ll make the drive next weekend, but what is going on?”

There is a long pause, and Mariah was beginning to think she had been hung up on when she heard a sigh and a resigned, “Alright, come down next weekend. Make sure to bring all your lawyer stuff. I’m gonna put what I paid for to good use.” Mariah looks at the phone and shakes her head. She briefly considers calling Cornell, but knows that unless given the word from Mama Mabel, he won’t say a thing.

She manages to push the call to the back of her mind and gets through her work week relatively unscathed. As she makes the 3 hour drive home she thinks back to the staff meeting that was held earlier in the week. Her firm was pushing for more community involvement. It was framed as something that was done for the good of everyone involved, but Mariah was from Harlem, and she could spot the whole “white savior” complex a mile away. If she could come up with something and head it up, there was a corner office with her name all over it.

She tosses around ideas, but nothing sticks and she is mildly irritated by the time she pulls up to the brownstone. She immediately notices the mood of the neighborhood is somber. Harlem has always had this sort of frantic energy, and it’s extremely toned down today. Cornell meets her at the door, with the same guilty look he had when he and Pop were playing football in the house, and ended up crashing into Mama Mabel’s prized black angels collection. 

“Hey cuz.” He weakly waves and it sends her irritability through the roof. Mariah sweeps by him and hisses in his ear, “If I got called back here cause of your dumb ass...” She trails off, the threat clear, and goes into the house. She’s heading into the living room when Mama Mabel emerges from the parlor and looks Mariah up and down.

“That all you brought?” Gesturing to Mariah’s leather case and tote bag. 

“Considering I have no idea what’s going on, I wasn’t sure what ‘lawyer stuff’ to bring.” She’s fairly sure she hadn’t managed to tamp down on the sarcasm, if the look Mama Mabel threw her way was any indication. She’s guided into the parlor to see a few of the older women that she knows from around the way gathered around the table. 

Mariah is instantly on guard, but knows that manners are still important so she goes to each woman and greets them individually. When she gets to the last woman, she finds herself wrapped in a (surprisingly) strong hug.

“Thank you, baby. It feels so good to know that we can always count on our own.” Shirley Jackson, who makes the best greens around, has a death grip on Mariah and doesn’t appear to want to let go.

“Let the girl go Shirley, we need to get started.” Cora Smith, another neighborhood legend known for her pecan pie, pulls out a sheaf of papers and launches in. “Here are my signed statements and hospital records, and I’m ready to testify in court, too. How long does that take, baby?” 

“Oh I can testify, too. I bought a brand new church hat and-.” Ms. Shirley speaks up.

“Don’t nobody want to hear about your hat, Shirley. We tryna talk to Mariah, now hush” Velma Green, who Mariah knows for a fact can wield a wooden spoon like a whip, cuts her off and turns back to Mariah. “We all have statements and doctors notes to back us up. Some of the teachers are being stubborn, but that’s where you come in.”

Mariah is completely confused and turns to Mama Mabel, “What is going on here?” 

“You didn’t tell her?”

“She don’t know?”

“Mabel, I thought you said you had a lawyer all lined up!” The ladies are all getting worked up, and the volume is increasing until a sharp “Enough” is heard.

Mabel stands up and addresses the room at large, “I haven’t told her all the details yet, but I know my Mimi will not hesitate to do what’s right.” She ends the statement with a loving smile directed at Mariah. 

Inside though, Mariah is torn between laughing manically and screaming. Yeah she won’t hesitate, but Mabel can let that asshole brother of hers slide for how long? Only taking steps to get rid of him when- Mariah’s eyes widened, and looks at the women assembled again. Even though she’s been away, she’s kept up with all the gossip (courtesy of mandatory Tuesday phone calls to Mama Mabel) So she’s aware that all the women in the parlor have kids that work for or used to work for Mama Mabel. 

And just like that all the pieces fall into place, and Mariah really wants to tell Mabel about herself. No better than that, she wants to expose just who Mabel Stokes is to her adoring public. A woman who outwardly is touted as a standup woman who gets things done by any means necessary, and is a champion for the weak. But really, unless it affects her bottom line, she’s content to turn a blind eye. 

Mariah would love to stand up and walk out, but the expectant faces of the other women (and the guilt that she knows would follow her) keep her in her seat. She takes out her notepad and tape recorder, figuring she can take a few notes and pass off the documents to her DA friend. 

“Look, she’s got one of them recorders and everything!” She hears Ms. Shirley exclaim.

“Okay, let’s start with the hospital records. What exactly am I looking at, here?” She’s opened one of the files to see a detailed medical report listing a litany of injuries and illness. “Oh my god.” She quickly opens the other files to see similar injuries. 

“That’s my Marcus.” Velma chokes out. “He’s still in the hospital.” 

“Are they all like this?” Mariah asked breathlessly. All thoughts of turning over the case cease as she begins to examine the file closely. Her heart is beating a mile a minute thinking she has found her community outreach project for her firm. Only it’s looking as if she can very easily turn this into a class action criminal lawsuit. 

“Oh yes. Trey will have a permanent limp because of what those animals did.” Now the ladies are all handing over reports and spilling stories of abuse and neglect.

“What school is this?” Mariah has visions of news vans, New York Times articles, she knows this will be easy to get the partners involved in. It has all the benchmarks of a landmark case. 

“School? This isn’t a school, Mimi.” Mama Mabel cuts in. Mariah frowns and turns to Ms. Velma, “You mentioned teachers.”

“Yes baby girl, the teachers at Bridges.” Ms Cora said.

Bridges, Bridges….the name bounces around before it becomes clear. Mariah can feel the elation leave her all at once and just knows that she can’t sell this. “You’re talking about Spofford. You want to sue the largest juvenile detention center in the Bronx?”


	3. Ammunition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mariah visits Spofford and gets a whole lot of ammunition.

The doors slam shut behind her, and Mariah has to remind herself that she cannot break down. Not there, not while that hateful place is still within sight. She hurries to her car and it isn’t until she’s miles away that the knot in her chest eases. 

She drives until she gets back to her small apartment and immediately heads towards the alcohol. Two glasses of Merlot and she still can’t get the words out of her head. 

Dark corridors, extremely small cells, a laughable school regimen…Mariah snorted. That hellhole was just a place to drop off troubled kids and keep them caged, screw rehabilitation. 

‘No wonder most of them get sent back within a year’ Mariah thinks to herself as she sits down to try and make sense of her many pages of notes and recordings.

When she pitched the idea of taking on the corrupt institution, it was met with an enthusiastic yes…until she revealed what Spofford actually was. Then she could actually see their interest wane. No amount of debating or arguing would move the non-believers. She’d had to resort to playing on their sympathies (and a bit on their white guilt), letting them read reports of the TB outbreak that had gone unreported and untreated. The numerous medical reports that suggested rampant physical and sexual assault. 

Three hours, no breaks, and one associate leaving the room in tears later, there wasn’t a ‘no’ to be heard. 

In the end, she was allowed to focus exclusively on building a case targeted at shutting the place down. She had members of her team start by going to the center and speaking to the kids while Mariah focused on getting detailed and sworn statements from various relatives, hospitals, and whatever witnesses she could find that were deemed credible. 

It had been slow going at first, no one wanted to speak to a lawyer. Mariah was well aware of the “no snitching” mantra that permeated the streets. But once it was discovered that she wasn’t just anyone; the flood gates opened. For the first time Mariah understood exactly why Mama Mabel wanted her to go into law. Having a person that straddled both worlds and could easily switch between the two enabled her to move in places that her firm just couldn’t touch.

Cornell surprisingly paid a substantial role in rounding up some of his friends that had been sent to Spofford. It helped tremendously, but Mariah was skeptical of his willingness to help, something was off there, but whenever she pressed him he played it off. She had half a mind to bring Mama Mabel into it and force him to tell her, but never got the chance.   
The team she sent to Spofford came back pretty empty handed, so she figured she would conduct the interviews, not as a lawyer per se, but as Mama Mabel Stokes niece. 

Apparently her name could open doors anywhere. 

Mariah had never been inside a prison, jail, or any kind of corrective facility despite her growing up surrounded by people that had served time in all three places. What with Cornell escaping unscathed from every run in with the law, and Pete? Well Pete could’ve just rotted for all she cared. Mariah would have paid to keep him in there.

So her first visit “on the inside” was not to see a single loved one, but many.

Mariah waited in the reception area for her escort to arrive, already feeling anxious. The atmosphere was dark, depressing, and she would much rather be anywhere else. If it felt like this to her, a grown ass woman, she couldn’t imagine what it felt like to a scared child. 

‘Criminals’ the part of her mind that desperately wanted to separate herself from her upbringing whispered.

‘Kids who’ve made mistakes’ the other half countered. 

Before her mind ran too far away, her escort arrived. Right away she could tell she was going to have problems. She knew the guy, Roy Jefferson, he’d hung around with her Uncle Pete and Mariah always felt like she had to watch her back anytime he came around. 

“Alright, now. Hey Miss Mariah, how you doing today?” He swaggered in like they were meeting for a cup of coffee. 

“Roy, is the conference room ready?” Mariah wanted to get this over with, plus being near him was bringing back some ugly memories.

“Yeah…okay.” He chuckled and turned to head down a hall. “Just so you know, all these kids up in here are liars. That’s why they here. I don’t know why you got people investingatin’ and shit. Ought to send some of their asses straight to Rikers if you ask me.” He stopped and unlocked at door leading to a set of offices.

Mariah swept by him with a curt “Good thing nobody asked you then.” The conference room was set up to accommodate a group of up to 10 at a time. The current group assembled looks as if they would rather be anywhere else, save one Hispanic looking kid by the door who hasn’t taken his eyes off of her. The kid looks like he is no older than 13, skinny as hell, with a black eye that looks fairly new. 

She focuses on the group as a whole, and explains who she is and what she’s trying to do. Only to be met with eye rolls, and snorts of derision.

“Another lawyer?”

“Man, don’t yall have nothing else to do?”

“At least this one is fine as hell.” This is said by a tall, muscular kid who winks at her while simultaneously spreading his legs, “Come sit on my lap and I’ll tell you whatever you want.”  
A few of the boys laugh, while the others look away clearly embarrassed.

“Ease up Dorian,” the Hispanic kid pipes up. “You know she is, right?” He cuts his eyes at Dorian before giving Mariah a half smile. “She’s Stokes, man. Mama Mabels niece.” Mariah is sure she’s never seen this kid before in her life, but he seems to know her. He’s probably one of Cornell’s little friends who like to follow him around like a puppy. 

That little bit of show and tell seems to do the trick and things flow easier. Eventually even Dorian, who’s been in and out of Spofford, contributes to the list of allegations. Some of the younger boys look close to tears as they tell her of being abused by the guards, kids being locked up in solitary confinement, food being withheld and so on. One of the most common allegations is that they were made to fight each other while the guards bet on the outcomes. 

Mariah looks at the Hispanic kid, “Is that what happened to you…Herman?” She reads his name off the roster. The tips of his ears turn red as he mumbles “It’s Hernan”

“Nah, he got that cause he stay talking smack and can’t back it up.” One of the other kids speak up, and just like that the mood lifts and they all engage in the time honored tradition of shit-talking. When they are lighthearted like this, it’s hard for Mariah to see them as anything else but kids. Yes, they may have committed crimes and broke the law, but this type of punishment is over the top, especially for a place that is supposed to be focused on rehabilitation.

She lets the boys clown around for a bit, figuring it’s been a while since they were able to just be kids. Soon there is a banging on the door and the guards are swarming the room, preparing to take the first group back. She decides to be a little passive aggressive and hugs each and every kid that walks by her. It breaks her heart that most of the boys cling to her, as if they don’t want to leave the safety of that little room. Mariah sighs once they’re gone and figures the next group will be more of the same. 

She is wrong. So very wrong.

The next group is even younger than the first and all she has to do is take on a somewhat maternal tone, and they all crack. She hears more stories of abuse, but these take on a more disturbing tone. Tales of inappropriate touching by the guards and Mariah decides to focus the crux of the lawsuit on this group in particular. She wants to burn the whole place to the ground and salt the remains.

It’s no longer about winning the corner office, but fighting for those that are unable to take on a whole institution, simply because they don’t have the means.


	4. Insider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mariah discovers why she was asked to take on this particular case.

Mariah Dillard was running dangerously low on fucks to give. 

“You want to say that again?” She narrows her eyes at one of her colleagues, who had just cracked a joke regarding one of her Spofford boys. 

And if that isn’t a kick, somehow she’s accepted all these boys as her own. Mariah didn’t really have any maternal urges (she likes to joke that helping to raise Cornell knocked all of that out of her) but she feels very protective of this group of kids.

The idiot who had spoken apparently had no sense of self preservation, because he repeated, “I said we need to check if Rikers has a daycare. They’re all gonna end up there sooner or later, might as well get them familiar with the place.” He let out another laugh while looking around the room for anyone else to join in. Most of the other lawyers had worked with Mariah long enough to know when she was about to go off, the rest of the newcomers could sense there was blood in the air and wisely kept quiet. 

Mariah raised an eyebrow, ‘And why is that, hmmm? It can’t be because more often than not they’re stuck with public defenders who don’t give a shit about them. It can’t be because we’re pulling more and more funding away from urban areas and redistributing it to more worthy recipients, leaving these kids with no after school programs, nowhere to go, no place to funnel all their passion and energy.” Mariah steps in close to Chad? Chett? Whatever, she didn’t really care what his name was, his ass was gonna learn today.

“Or is it because whenever they step out of line, there are plenty of people like you who are just waiting to lock them up and throw away the key? Instead of treating them like there is some hope of rehabilitation, they’re just written off as bad seeds.” Mariah pauses for emphasis, “not everybody is lucky enough to have a daddy that can pull strings to get a DUI dismissed. Imagine if you had actually had to serve some time for your little late night drunken joyride.” 

Mariah turned to speak to the room at large, “I know some of you don’t understand why we’re doing this, and you probably think they all deserve to be locked up. But think back to your high school and college days, think about some of the illegal shit you did. Think about the drinking, the drugs, and the general mayhem you caused. Be lucky that somebody had enough money to bail your asses out of jail, and get you the best lawyers money could buy, so all you ended up with was community service.” 

Feeling winded from her impromptu speech, Mariah gathered her belongings and left for the day. Staying in that room while all she wanted to do was bitch slap that arrogant asshole would have put her career in serious jeopardy, and she needed to speak to Cornell.

He was being helpful, extremely helpful. For Mariah, that sent up a huge red flag. Combine that with the ever present guilt, something was up there. She knew Mama Mabel would be at Harlems Paradise, preparing for the annual holiday dinner she hosted, so Cornell would have no one looking over his shoulder and schooling him on what to say. 

“Cornell!” Raising her voice to be heard over the sounds of his keyboard, Mariah walked into the living room ready to interrogate. Cornell turned, ready to snap back at her, but something in her face must have clued him in that this was not the time. “What do you want Mimi?” 

“I want you to tell me why you’re doing this.” Mariah took a seat and faced Cornell head on. 

“Doing what, I’m just sitting here!” 

“Why you’re helping. I don’t understand why you’re going out of your way to round up people and get statements, it’s not like you.”

Cornell shrugged, but refused to say anything. “Wanna know what I think? I think you’re doing this because you feel guilty.” Cornell tenses up, and she knows that she’s hit pay dirt and decides to dig a little more, “What? Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?” He sighed and shook his head, “I knew he couldn’t keep his mouth shut, not around you.”

Mariah didn’t even want to know what that meant, so she just brushed it aside to think about it later. “You forced some poor kid to take the fall for you, so you wouldn’t have to face the consequences of you being a dumb-ass!”

Cornell explodes from his seat. “It wasn’t my idea to make him take the fall! She said it would hurt the business if I wasn’t here to run it! Somebody had to be here, and you don’t even live here anymore, you don’t know—“

“Know what, Cornell?” They both were so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn’t heard anyone enter the room. “Tell me, would you rather be up in Spofford yourself? Fighting every damn day, having to worry about somebody jumpin you in the showers? Go on then! Take your silly ass on up there.” With every word Mabel advanced on Cornell “That little boy got more heart than you’ve ever shown, all he needed to know was that I’ll take care of his mom and grandma. And I have. So you need to get over this little whining and crying thing you’ve got going on and show a little respect.” 

She rounds on Mariah, “And you, are going to help by using that fancy ass degree and getting that boy out of there and shutting it down. That place is hell, it’s hurt enough of our boys, and it needs to be closed. That’s how we show our thanks and take care of our community.” 

Mariah shook her head and got up to leave, it didn’t shock her that some of the kids that were “employed” by Mama Mable were caught and sent to Spofford. It did sadden Mariah that it didn’t seem to matter to Mabel until it started affecting the business. Briefly she wondered which kid was brave (stupid) enough to take the hit for Cornell, but she figured it didn’t matter. Soon enough Spofford would be no more, and if the kid was smart enough, he’d stay far away from anyone with the name Stokes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When obsessing over our version of events, @queenmariahd came up with the idea that somewhere down the line Shades may have taken the fall for Cornell, and that would explain why they know each other, but aren't close per se.


	5. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shades thoughts on his time in Spofford

Shades leaned back on his couch and took a drink trying calm his mind. It’s been two days since he’d seen Mariah, sure there’s been texts and Alex as a go through, but somehow the two haven’t managed to be in the same room together. He knows that she probably thinks he’s emotional over his time in Spofford. That’s laughable, because that place truly was a playground compared to Sing Sing, Rikers, and shit, Seagate was just a downright hellhole. 

No, he’s irritated with himself for caring that she had no idea that they had met previously….on numerous occasions at that. He had been a dumb 14 year old with nothing to lose, so why not exchange a year or so in kiddie jail so Cornell could keep a clean record. Mama Mabel had assured him that his mother and grandmother would be taken care of, and he knew her word was as good as done. 

His time in Spofford seemed like one long nightmare that he could not wake up from. He knew how he presented to the other kids: young, skinny, with no discernable ties to any group in particular. His smart mouth often got him into situations that he had to fight his way out of, so bruises and black eyes became a normal occurrence. He wore his marks as badges of honor, an outward sign to others not to be fooled by his slight stature. 

By the time Mariah arrived on the scene, Hernan was resigned to his fate, merely counting down the time he had left. He was as skeptical as the rest when the rumors of Spofford being shut down started circulating, the place was shut down once before and it came back with no changes whatsoever. His attitude changed when he discovered who was heading up the charge.

Mariah Dillard was not only a Stokes, but she was also the girl (woman!) that he’s been crushing on ever since he spotted her one day on the steps of Mama Mabels brownstone. Cornell had mentioned that his cousin was home visiting, but going by his dismissive tone, Hernan had expected—well he wasn’t sure what he expected, but it sure wasn’t what he met. She’d left a mark on him that has not faded with time. 

Snapping out of his daydream, he looked around his sparsely decorated apartment. Mariah left her mark here as well, having visited once and declaring his place “cold and unfinished”. She sent Alex with a few things to make it feel like a home: some pictures, area rugs, and some books and knick-knacks to fill in his shelves a bit. She was pleasantly surprised by how well stocked his kitchen seemed to be, it was obviously used, and used often. 

He drained his drink and got up to retrieve his coat, he knew Mariah would be at Harlems Paradise right now. He’s hired some very competent security, but when it comes down to it, he doesn’t trust anyone else with her safety but him.


	6. Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shades goes to Mariah and old issues are settled

She’s not in her in her normal space, standing tall overlooking Harlems Paradise. Shades knows she’s in the club, Alex made sure to seek him out the minute his shoes touched the ground. Handing him the normal schedule for the night, as well as a few odds and ends that needed tending to (Alex doesn’t do well with speaking with the staff, they all regard him as nothing but Mariah’s “city council boy toy”) 

Shades listens with one ear while Alex is briefing him on all that’s happened in his two day “vacation”. He keeps an eye on the large unoccupied open space on the second floor, wondering if Mariah will make an appearance or if she’s still “giving him his space”. 

“Hey man, I just want to say if I stepped in anything…” Alex starts, looking around nervously.

“Don’t worry bout it” Shades interrupts, wanting nothing more than to skip the little heart to heart he thinks Alex is heading towards. He tilts his head towards the second floor, eyebrow raised in question.

“She’s here, doing her boss lady thing. I’m gonna take off, we’ve got meetings and I need to prep. See ya.” Alex makes his way towards the entrance of the club, an invisible weight he hadn’t even known he was carrying being lifted by Shades’s appearance tonight. He’s not sure what kind of relationship they have, (he tries not to think about it too hard) but he can tell that Mariah has come to rely and depend on her “silent partner”. 

Shades makes his way towards the second floor, stopping every now and then to speak with various employees. He makes sure to pass the bar where Detective Misty Knight is perched, she has become a permanent fixture in their club as of late. He tamps down on the urge to turn to her and flash a shit eating grin, he’s got more important things to take care of. He makes his way up to Mariah’s office, expecting to see her behind the impressive desk that has already seen too many owners. 

The room is empty, as is her personal bathroom. He decides to head to his office to regroup and catch up on the many emails and messages he’s sure that’s piled up in his absence. 

“Bout time, never took you as one for being slow.” She’s seated on his loveseat with a drink in her hand. He enters slowly, mentally running through various replies before settling for simply shrugging his shoulders and closing the door behind him and taking off his coat, gloves, and shades as he walks to his desk and deposits the items on top. He knows Mariah is watching his every move, and although he is long over whatever twinge he might have felt knowing that while she played a big role in his adolescent life, he was no more a footnote in hers, he wants to hear her say she at least remembers him now. 

“I’m sorry,” That is not what he expected.

He turns to face her, not bothering to hide his confusion, Mariah puts her drink down and moves so he can sit down next to her. When he’s settled next to her, she repeats “I’m sorry” He opens his mouth to ask what the hell? 

“I’m not apologizing for not remembering you during that time, you know there were so many kids, and then there were the ones who had it so much worse than you did. I focused my efforts on the ones that could effectively make my case and sway the jury. I won’t and don’t apologize for doing my job.” She pauses and takes one of his hands in hers. “What I am apologizing for is the fact that you were there at all.” 

“It was my choice, Mariah.” He knows that she likes when he uses her given name, so he tends to save it for moments when they’re alone and when he needs to make a specific point. Like now, when she is obviously feeling some sort of misplaced guilt. 

“You didn’t have much of a choice, Hernan. Mabel knew that, and used it and you to keep Cornell’s young and dumb ass out of lock-up. That was a choice you shouldn’t have had to make.” She squeezes his hand to emphasize her point. 

Shades pulls his hand away and stands, “So what is this, the guilt talking? C’mon, you’re acting like I had a whole bunch of options besides Spofford, at least I knew my family was being taken care of.” He stops in front of her, lowering himself to his knees and shoots her a rare sincere smile, “And you’re the one that got me out of there, so really it all worked out in the end.” He takes her hand now to try and soothe her, “Is this why you been freezing me out? You think I’d be pissed about this?”

“You should be. You and all the other kids that fell in to the Stokes trap. Mabel was good for looking out for her bottom line, and everything else came second.” She pauses and meets his gaze dead on, “Especially a skinny kid with big ass ears who tried to offer me a cigarette from a pack that wasn’t even his.”

He rolls his eyes and flops back on the loveseat, but his grin is ear to ear and infectious, “You finally remember?”

“Yep, I sure do.” Her smile is wide enough to rival his own. 

“You didn’t have to mention the ears.” He muttered. Mariah stroked his right ear, leaning over to whisper “I don’t know, I think you’ve grown into them.” He turns to meet her eyes, gaze dropping to her lips. ”Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Mariah leans in, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. Always conscious of where they are, she eventually pulls away. He takes a minute to compose himself before standing to get himself a drink.

“Detective Knight is in the club tonight.” He relays to Mariah, who rolls her eyes and mutters something about Misty needing another hobby. She heads out to greet the irritating woman but Shades slides his hand down her arm to hold her in place.

“No more guilt, okay.” It’s both a question and a demand. 

“None, although I’m getting an idea for a youth defense fund. It’ll provide a service that’s sorely lacking in the community.” Mariah is halfway out the door still tossing ideas about her new venture and making noises about calling and waking Alex up to spearhead the whole thing.

Shades settles in behind is desk to catch up on work, privately pleased that Mariah is taking the initiative to help out some of Harlems forgotten casualties of the ongoing turf wars. He knows realistically that she won’t be able to help everyone, but the ones she can save will be loyal to her forever. 

 

He knows a little bit about that himself.


End file.
